Keenan Smith sometimes plays a creepy little girl at Markoff's Haunted House in Maryland. The 20-year-old says he makes a pretty convincing girl, until he talks, which makes it all the creepier.

Courtesy of Kenan Smith

Halloween might be the best day of the year for kids who love candy and grown-ups who love to be scared, but it is also the last day of work for thousands of ghouls and clowns.

Every year, people from all walks of life — firefighters, students, preschool teachers — adopt the rather unconventional part-time job of scaring at haunted attractions. They spend a month caking their faces with makeup, dipping their bodies in jelly-like substances that resemble blood and practicing chilling screams and creepy laughs until they're pitch perfect.

For many, being scary is a labor of love. But the job is actually a lot of work — much more than hiding behind a tree and shrieking boo.

At Markoff's Haunted Forest in Maryland, about 200 blood-soaked monsters and clowns gather for a daily meeting before their victims arrive. Manager Jenny Alderton cups her hands around her mouth and delivers what could almost be a pre-game pep talk, if it weren't for all the makeup.

"Is everyone tired from last night?" Alderton shrieks.

"No!" the creatures roar.

"No! No is the right answer," Alderton yells. "You should've gotten a lot of rest last night, come back rejuvenated and ready to go!"

The daily work of a ghoul or zombie starts well before the crowds arrive. At Markoff's Haunted Forest, it all starts in Andrea Reilly's costume room. For the past 10 years, she's collected racks and racks of mismatched black outfits and dirt-stained ensembles.

"You know what I like about knives?" he asks ghoulishly. "You can get up close and personal!"

Alpern is rehearsing his lines, transforming into character. He expects a workout tonight with all the lurking, creeping and jumping that comes with being a clown.

"I could probably eat like a wedding cake every night and I'd probably still lose weight from this job," he says.

Outside the costume room, 20-year-old Keenan Smith scopes out the haunted trail for a hiding spot before the customers arrive. He's dressed all in black, and his mask resembles some kind of ambiguous creature lurking under the bed.